WEIDENFELD VISITING PROFESSORSHIP IN
EUROPEAN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

CONFERMENT OF THE TITLE OF VISITING
PROFESSOR

On the recommendation of the Board of the Faculty of Biological
Sciences, the General Board has conferred the title of Visiting
Professor in Zoology on D.C.S. WHITE, MA, D.PHIL., Director of
Science and Technology at BBSRC, for a period of three years with
immediate effect.

DIRECTORSHIP OF THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

KEITH STEWART THOMSON (B.SC. Birmingham, AM, PH.D. Harvard),
University Distinguished Scientist-in-Residence, New School for
Social Research, New York, and Adjunct Professor of Geology,
University of Pennsylvania, has been appointed to the
directorship with effect from 1 July 1998.

PITT RIVERS MUSEUM

On the recommendation of the Committee for the Pitt Rivers
Museum, the General Board has appointed C. GOSDEN, MA, Fellow of
St Cross, Curator of the Pitt Rivers Museum and University
Lecturer in Prehistory, Acting Director of the Pitt Rivers Museum
for the period until 13 April 1998.

PATRICK MALLAM MEMORIAL PRIZE IN
CLINICAL MEDICINE 1997

SAID BUSINESS SCHOOL: OUTLINE PLANNING
APPLICATION

After complex negotiations, the University is about to exchange
contracts with Railtrack to buy the station forecourt site for
the Said Business School. Railtrack are now to start the
construction of the new station car park on the land between
Becket Street and the railway. This will take about 500 cars and
access from it to the station will be over a new footbridge
alongside the Botley Road bridge. As soon as the new car park is
ready, Thames Trains, which manages the car parking and the
station will transfer all commuter car parking to the new site
and Railtrack will then use the existing car park as a temporary
forecourt area for the buses and taxis while the present
forecourt is rebuilt. When this is ready, Railtrack will be able
to grant possession of the site to the University which in turn
will lease the majority of it to the Business School Foundation
for the construction of the new buildings. The area not needed
for the latter is being sold on to the Foundation and reserved
for future expansion. This area includes part of the foundations
of Rewley Abbey, recorded as providing the first communal
accommodation for students in Oxford.

An outline planning application has been submitted to Oxford
City Council seeking approval to construct 22,000 square metres
of floor space on the site for academic use. The application is
supported by some illustrative drawings showing how the new
School might look from Park End Street. The design is however at
a very early stage and has not been approved by University and
the Foundation. The purpose of the application is to seek
agreement to the change of use of the site from the offices and
a hotel included in the local plan to academic use and to form
the basis for discussions with the City over the appearance of
the building, traffic, and other planning matters. The design is
being overseen by the Foundation's Building Committee with the
Vice-Chancellor and the President of Magdalen College as the
University's representatives. A full planning application is to
be submitted in April and it is hoped that construction can start
in September 1998.

The design assumes that the proposed new junction in front
of the Royal Oxford Hotel goes ahead and that the University will
be required to dedicate some of the land on the Park End Street
side for highway use. This will require the former LMS station,
a Grade 2* listed building, to be moved. After taking advice from
consultants specialising in heritage buildings, the University
has concluded that the best way of preserving the station would
be to re-erect it at a heritage railway society site where it
would be brought back to its original use and accessible to the
public. A study of possible sites is under way. Fortunately the
building was designed to be demountable and can be moved without
much damage. It was erected in 1851 by the same contractors who
built the Crystal Palace and its cast-iron columns and girders
are almost identical and thought to have come from the same
moulds as the components for the Crystal Palace structure.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD STATEMENT OF
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

1 The general provisions of the Health and
Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 which came into force on 1 April
1975 lay a duty on all employers to ensure, as far as is
reasonably practicable, the safety of their employees at work by
maintaining safe plant, safe systems of work, and safe premises,
and also by ensuring adequate instruction, training and
supervision. The University is also bound by the Act to ensure
the safety, while on its premises, of all other persons, who
(though not employees) are working or otherwise using the
facilities there.

2 By Decree (1) of 24 September 1981 the
University has amended the University's safety organisation by
making the Committee on Health and Safety a committee of Council
with a duty to advise Council on the establishment and
implementation of University safety policy. The decree also
provides for a Joint Safety Advisory Committee which includes
representatives of the recognised trades unions and which will
advise the Council committee.

3 The Act requires every employer to prepare
a written statement of his general policy with respect to the
health and safety at work of his employees and the organisation
and arrangements in force for carrying out that policy, and to
bring the statement to the notice of all his employees. Council,
therefore, circulates the following statement of safety policy:
`It is the policy of the University, and the responsibility of
the Hebdomadal Council, to adopt all reasonably practicable
measures:

(a) To secure the health, safety and welfare of all
employees at places of work under the University's control and
elsewhere when performing their duties;

(b) To protect students and other persons who are
lawfully on University premises against risk to their health or
safety which might arise out of activities in those places;

(c) To maintain safe plant, machinery and equipment
and a safe and healthy place of work.'

4 It is also the policy of the University to
ensure that all members of the University and its staff are aware
of their individual responsibility to exercise care in relation
to themselves and those who work with them. To this end
individuals are enjoined to:

(a) Familiarise themselves with University Safety
Policy and any departmental safety requirements;

(b) Take reasonable care that all procedures used
are safely carried out, and seek expert advice in any case of
doubt;

(c) Warn of any special or newly identified hazards
in present procedures or risks in new procedures about to be
introduced;

Where self-employed persons, or contractors and their
employees, carry out work on University premises, they must
comply with standards of safe working contained in any
Regulations or Codes of Practice applicable to their operations,
and in the University's safety rules.

5. Heads of departments and institutions are responsible for
the health, safety, and welfare of all people who are lawfully
in the buildings under their charge and are required to bring to
the notice of all employees a written statement describing the
organisation and arrangements for safety within their
departments.

6. Responsibility for implementing University Safety Policy
rests with heads of departments and institutions. In order to
provide expert advice on matters of health and safety, the
Hebdomadal Council has appointed the following officers:

Director of Health and Safety Services;

University Radiation Protection Officer;

University Occupational Health Physician.

The requirements of the University on specific legislative
requirements and other matters are issued as University Policy
Statements (previously known as University Guidance Notes).
Advice on specific hazards and technical items is issued as
Memoranda by the University Safety Office and by the University
Occupational Health Service.

Heads of departments may also appoint suitable members of their
staff as Departmental Safety Officers to advise them and to
liaise with the University Officers. Area Safety Officers are
appointed in high risk science and clinical departments in order
to enhance the Departmental Safety Officer system. Any department
using ionising radiation must have a system of radiation
protection management based on Departmental Radiation Protection
Supervisors, whose task is to ensure compliance with statutory
regulations and local rules.

7 To advise on policy the University has
established a Committee on Health and Safety consisting of
members appointed by the University, while for consultation the
University has established a Joint Safety Advisory Committee
comprising members appointed by the Committee on Health and
Safety and representatives of the recognised trade unions. There
is also a Radiation Protection Consultative Committee which acts
in a consultative role on all matters arising from the use of
radioactive material or other sources of ionizing radiation in
the University. A Biological Safety Advisory Group advises the
Committee on Health and Safety on matters of biological safety.

8 The Occupational Health Committee is a
subcommittee of the Committee on Health and Safety and deals with
matters relating to the management of the University's
Occupational Health Service. The Working Group on Fire
Precautions and Safety considers all matters relating to the
programmes of work undertaken on the grounds of safety.

9 This policy supersedes all previous
versions of University Safety Policy. It will be reviewed
annually by the Committee on Health and Safety.

10 The names of the chairmen of the
committees and of the University Officers are given in the
Appendix.

WIDOWS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE
UNIVERSITY'S PENSION SCHEMES

From time to time the attention of the University is drawn to
individual cases of financial hardship among widows of former
members of the Federated Superannuation System for Universities
(FSSU) and the University of Oxford Employees Pension Scheme
(EPS). Limited resources are available to alleviate proven cases
of hardship and any enquiry should be addressed to the
Superannuation Officer, University Offices, Wellington Square,
Oxford OX1 2JD. All cases are dealt with in the strictest
confidence.

GIBBS PRIZES 1998

Prizes on the foundation of Mr Charles D.D. Gibbs will be offered
in 1998 in Modern History, Law, Politics, Geography, Chemistry,
Biochemistry, and Zoology. Candidates for prizes other than that
in Law must be members of the University who, at the time of
taking the public examination on which the prizes are awarded,
have not exceeded the twelfth term from their matriculation.
Candidates for the prize in Law must be members of the University
who, at the beginning of the examination, have not exceeded their
twelfth term from matriculation, and are reading for a final
Honour School.

In addition the board of management for the Gibbs Prizes has
decided that, in 1998, Gibbs Prizes will also be offered in the
following subjects: Earth Sciences, Engineering Science, English
Language and Literature, Materials, Mathematics, Modern
Languages, Music, Oriental Studies, Philosophy, Physics,
Physiological Sciences, Psychological Studies, and Theology.
There will be an additional Gibbs Prize for performance in
Politics in the Preliminary Examination in Politics, Philosophy,
and Economics. Candidates for these prizes must be members of the
University who, at the time of taking the examination or
submitting the coursework on which the prizes are awarded, have
not exceeded the twelfth term from their matriculation.

Further details of all the Gibbs Prizes will be published in the
Gazette during Hilary Term.

ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY TEACHERS

The Association of University Teachers is both a professional
association and a trade union, committed to the advancement of
university education and research. At the national level, the AUT
is the recognised union for academic and academic-related staff.
Besides its concern for more general questions of university
education and research, the AUT negotiates salary levels and
conditions of employment with the Committee of Vice-Chancellors
and Principals.

The Oxford branch of the AUT is open for membership to
university and college employees, whether academic or
academic-related. It has over 900 members. It is the official
body with which the University discusses priorities and problems
bearing on education and research, and negotiates solutions to
them. Discussions between the Oxford AUT and university officers
occur formally once per term at a meeting of a Joint Consultative
Committee, but there are many other informal meetings to discuss
particular problems, including those affecting the conditions of
employment of academic and academic-related staff, such as the
`waiver clause' for those employed on contract grants. The local
AUT also provides confidential advice on problems relating to
terms and conditions of employment.

General meetings of the Oxford AUT take place on Tuesday of
third week in each term. The Hilary Term meeting will be held on
Tuesday, 3 February, 1.15--2.30 p.m., in Blackhall, Queen
Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles'. All AUT members and non-members
will be welcome.